Romania signs agreement with Daimler for EUR 300 million production expansion

The Romanian Government recently signed the agreement with German car maker Daimler AG, which will invest EUR 300 million in its Romanian subsidiary Star Transmission to expand production capacity. Romania, represented by Dan Sova, minister delegate for infrastructure projects and foreign investments, said it would support the German investor in developing its investment plans in Romania. The Government did not announce however the nature of the support or what the agreement included. Pending support from the Romanian state, Daimler previously said it plans to start production of a its new generation of automatic transmissions for cars at its Sebes plant in Romania. Daimler's decision to add a production facility in Romania comes to supplement production as Daimler's Stuttgart factory has reached maximum capacity. Star Transmission has two production units in Romania, at Cugir and at Sebes, where 800 employees have been manufacturing components for motors and transmission systems for all Mercedes-Benz cars since 2001. Daimler will start production of the 5-speed automatic transmission from the middle of this year at the new location in Sebes until its discontinuation. Starting in 2014, the current generation of front dual clutch transmissions will also be assembled there. “The expansion of our production network is include an additional location for transmission assembly is designed to perfectly complement our existing capacities,” said Andreas Renschler, Member of the Daimler Board of Management for Manufacturing and Procurement Mercedes-Benz Cars and Mercedes-Benz Vans. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Daimler)